Seward Peninsula Inupiaq and language contact around Bering Strait
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Lawrence D. Kaplan
Abstract
In the Bering Strait region, where Siberia and Alaska are in close proximity, the world’s greatest diversity of Eskimo languages is found, with five separate languages: Inupiaq, Central Siberian Yupik, Naukan Yupik, Central Alaskan Yupik, and Sirenikski (now extinct). The results of language contact among them are evident and must be due to extensive bilingualism, although the introduction of English and Russian has vastly decreased bilingualism involving the indigenous languages. Emphasizing Inupiaq, this paper presents a number of these language-contact phenomena, from lexical borrowing to profound alterations in phonology such as the prosodic-type systems found in Seward Peninsula Inupiaq, and discusses the history of the contact.
Abstract
In the Bering Strait region, where Siberia and Alaska are in close proximity, the world’s greatest diversity of Eskimo languages is found, with five separate languages: Inupiaq, Central Siberian Yupik, Naukan Yupik, Central Alaskan Yupik, and Sirenikski (now extinct). The results of language contact among them are evident and must be due to extensive bilingualism, although the introduction of English and Russian has vastly decreased bilingualism involving the indigenous languages. Emphasizing Inupiaq, this paper presents a number of these language-contact phenomena, from lexical borrowing to profound alterations in phonology such as the prosodic-type systems found in Seward Peninsula Inupiaq, and discusses the history of the contact.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
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Part I. Polysynthesis
- Polysynthesis in the Arctic 3
- Polysynthesis as a typological feature 19
- Analytic vs. synthetic verbal constructions in Chukchi and West Greenlandic 35
- Lexical polysynthesis 51
- How synchronic is synchronic analysis? 65
- Comparative constructions in Central Alaskan Yupik 81
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Part II. Around the verb
- The efficacy of anaphoricity in Aleut 97
- Objective conjugations in Eskaleut and Uralic 115
- Complex verb formation revisited 135
- Determining the semantics of Inuktitut postbases 149
- The marking of past time in Kalaallisut, the Greenlandic language 171
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Part III. Discourses and contacts
- Tracking topics 185
- Arguments and information management in Inuktitut 201
- Space and structure in Greenlandic oral tradition 215
- Grammatical structures in Greenlandic as found in texts written by young Greenlanders at the turn of the millennium 231
- Chat – New rooms for language contact 249
- Seward Peninsula Inupiaq and language contact around Bering Strait 261
- Typological constraints on code mixing in Inuktitut–English bilingual adults 273
- Index of languages 307
- Index of subjects 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
-
Part I. Polysynthesis
- Polysynthesis in the Arctic 3
- Polysynthesis as a typological feature 19
- Analytic vs. synthetic verbal constructions in Chukchi and West Greenlandic 35
- Lexical polysynthesis 51
- How synchronic is synchronic analysis? 65
- Comparative constructions in Central Alaskan Yupik 81
-
Part II. Around the verb
- The efficacy of anaphoricity in Aleut 97
- Objective conjugations in Eskaleut and Uralic 115
- Complex verb formation revisited 135
- Determining the semantics of Inuktitut postbases 149
- The marking of past time in Kalaallisut, the Greenlandic language 171
-
Part III. Discourses and contacts
- Tracking topics 185
- Arguments and information management in Inuktitut 201
- Space and structure in Greenlandic oral tradition 215
- Grammatical structures in Greenlandic as found in texts written by young Greenlanders at the turn of the millennium 231
- Chat – New rooms for language contact 249
- Seward Peninsula Inupiaq and language contact around Bering Strait 261
- Typological constraints on code mixing in Inuktitut–English bilingual adults 273
- Index of languages 307
- Index of subjects 309
